All Bets Off When U.S., Canada Throw Down

MANCHESTER, England -- To see the difference
between the U.S. and Canadian lacrosse teams is to see Mac Allen
with his party-in-the-back, mullet-Mohawk hybrid, slugging a Red
Bull and rocking huge headphones before a game.

Or to see head coach Dave Huntley hobnob in flip-flops.

Or to see John Grant Jr. and company in the beer garden following a
big win.

Each sight offers a sharp contrast to what most observers have
noted about Team USA at these Federation of International Lacrosse
(FIL) World Championships. While Team Canada is loose as ever, the
U.S. has been wound tightly under head coach Mike Pressler’s
watch.

The teams meet Saturday at 4 p.m. local (11 a.m. Eastern) in the
gold medal game. Canada defeated the U.S., 15-10, to win gold in
2006. The Canadians then handed Team USA its first-ever defeat in
preliminaries with a 10-9 victory last Saturday.

“We have a different mentality. You’ve got to enjoy
this whole experience,” said midfielder Shawn Williams, a
three-time member of the Canadian national team. “Talking to
guys I know on the American side, they do miss that a little bit.
You get a little cabin fever in there.”

With off days Wednesday and Friday breaking up the schedule, Team
USA has found ways to unwind and get back to its winning ways. But
the daily regimen, including meals, training room treatment,
meetings and film review, remains in place.

Co-captain Ryan Powell said it’s important that the U.S.
players stay on schedule, but not to psych themselves out to the
point of self-destruction.

“We’re having a good time right now. We’ve really
bonded as a team. We’re trying not to get too tightened up
here,” Powell said after Team USA’s 20-5 win over Japan
in Thursday’s semifinal. “We’re playing the
biggest game of our lives Saturday. We want to keep this flow
going, stay loose. We’re in a pretty good routine with what
time we’re eating, hanging out with each other, coming to
shoot-arounds, getting work done during the day, being prepared and
ready to go out there when it’s time to battle.”

U.S. defensive midfielder Chris Schiller is familiar with the
Canadian way. As a member of the Rochester Rattlers in 2008, he won
a Major League Lacrosse championship playing alongside many of
those players. He’s also a veteran of the Canadian-laden
National Lacrosse League with the Rochester Knighthawks.

“Last time we just got too amped for the game. We were very
tight,” Schiller said of Team USA’s only loss of the
tournament. “We’ve all been in big games, and we all
have to act like we’ve been in big games. We’ve just
got to play our game.”

There were hints of gamesmanship the first time the U.S. and Canada
met, but players on both sides Friday downplayed the element of
surprise.

“It’s one of those all-time great rivalries. I get
chills right now just talking about it,” Williams said.
“We know what they got. They know what we got. It’s
mano a mano. Let’s go at it.”

Said Schiller: “You can throw everything out the window when
our two teams play.”

The U.S. has made adjustments on the field since the Canada loss.
Powell supplanted Drew Westervelt on the starting attack line next
to Ryan Boyle and Brendan Mundorf. Swing man Mike Leveille bumped
up to the first midfield line to offer a left-handed compliment to
Paul Rabil and Max Seibald.